Seeing that Cain knew nothing about it, Shanks began recounting what had happened all those years ago.
It was two or three days after they returned to Windmill Village from Elegia, back before Luffy ate the Gum-Gum Fruit.
Garp had already left the village by then.
Following his grandfather's instructions, Cain spent every day in the backyard punching the stone bathtub over and over, refusing to stop until late at night.
After roughly bandaging his injured hands, he grabbed the newspaper that had just arrived and headed straight for Makino's bar.
Luffy had been miserable ever since Uta failed to return with the Red Hair Pirates.
Cain had dealt with his own feelings by training himself senseless from morning until night.
Then the News Coo delivered that newspaper.
The glaring headline finally jolted him awake.
He had to go to Makino's bar and demand the truth from Shanks.
Throughout those long days of waiting, whenever Cain remembered Uta's lively smile, followed by the cry he had once "witnessed" her make—
'Don't leave me behind!'
—his chest tightened until he could barely breathe.
He could not change what had already happened, but he had to do something for Uta now.
"Shanks! You didn't do this, right?! Everything you told Luffy before was a lie, wasn't it?"
The moment Cain entered the bar, he found Shanks, slammed the newspaper down in front of him, and demanded an answer.
"Even if something really happened, how could you leave Uta alone in a place that causes her so much pain?"
"Bring her back! I can ask Grandpa to help us keep her here in Windmill Village!"
"Even if she doesn't want to see any of you, she can still grow up here safely and happily!"
"It doesn't matter if she never studies music again!"
Cain's voice gradually grew quieter.
He respected Uta's dream.
But the thought of her enduring so much pain for that dream made it difficult to breathe.
Even so, Cain would rather become the villain who forced her to return.
At least then, she would not have to suffer.
Shanks understood the true nature of Cain's words immediately.
At their core, Cain's proposal was no different from what the Red Hair Pirates themselves were doing.
Cain was prioritizing Uta's feelings.
They were protecting her dream.
That was all.
They simply focused on different things.
Cain continued pleading with Shanks to bring Uta home.
He even listed every plan he could think of—how they might avoid attracting attention, how they could soothe Uta's feelings, and how they might make up for everything she had lost.
Every possible idea and workable solution came pouring out of him.
But the entire Red Hair crew remained silent.
No one answered.
Some turned their heads away. Others pretended to drink and repeatedly changed the subject.
Their laughter concealed the heavy atmosphere.
Shanks merely pushed a glass of orange juice toward Cain and smiled.
"Come on, Cain. Don't think about it so much. Uta's doing perfectly well over there."
"Have some juice."
The smile was bright.
To Cain, it was painfully glaring.
Were they treating him exactly like Luffy, as though he were just a little kid who understood nothing?
Of course, it was perfectly natural for Shanks to act that way.
Cain really was a child at the time.
Shanks had no idea Cain already knew the whole truth, much less that Uta was not doing well at all.
Cain stared at him without touching the juice.
A heavy pressure suddenly lodged itself in his chest, and he no longer wanted to speak.
The bar remained lively.
Laughter and the clear clinking of glasses blended into a cheerful roar, completely at odds with the dead silence inside Cain's heart.
Everything he had said with complete sincerity was lightly swallowed by the noise, leaving behind no response at all.
Perhaps his childish body had trapped his thoughts.
Or perhaps Uta's situation had already thrown all reason into disorder.
Cain never stopped to consider that the laughing people around him were also carrying the pain of Uta's departure.
They were merely using the noise and celebration to escape a reality they could not bear to accept.
But every laugh only grated against Cain's nerves until—
"Cain, Luffy, you'd better be careful not to let me find you first."
"But make sure you find me too."
Uta's words before she left suddenly echoed in his ears.
She had asked them to find her.
Yet right now, Cain could not even stop her from being abandoned in that place.
He did not hate Shanks.
He did not hate anyone in the Red Hair Pirates.
He only hated himself for being powerless to act.
Powerless to change anything.
Something inside Cain snapped.
…
"We were wrong back then."
Shanks looked at Cain with apology filling his eyes.
"We treated you like you were the same as Luffy and forgot that you already possessed the mind of an adult."
"I'm sorry."
"But you really frightened me at the time. I never expected you to awaken Conqueror's Haki at a moment like that."
"Wait!"
Cain stared at him in confusion.
"I clearly remember you knocking me unconscious. When did I use Conqueror's Haki?"
"You weren't actually knocked out by a punch," Shanks explained, scratching his head. "You lost consciousness when my Conqueror's Haki collided with yours."
"We were inside Makino's bar. I couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt."
"You know how some people can continue releasing Conqueror's Haki unconsciously even after passing out."
"To make sure you didn't accidentally hurt anyone, I overwhelmed you with mine and knocked you out."
"I just failed to control the strength properly and hit you a little too hard."
Cain nodded slowly.
"It doesn't sound that different from what happened with Ace."
"The emotions in both situations felt almost the same. There were only some slight… slight differences."
"Still, I never expected my first time to be back then."
Cain clenched his fist as he spoke.
Shanks nodded and continued.
"Exactly. Even after I knocked you unconscious, you kept calling Uta's name."
"Awakening Conqueror's Haki because of her meant you possessed the potential of a king."
"And Uta clearly held an extremely important place in your heart."
"But—!"
Shanks abruptly grabbed Cain by the collar and glared at him with wide, furious eyes.
"Don't tell me you were already having improper thoughts about Uta back then!"
'Yes… but also not exactly.'
Cain answered silently in his heart.
He thought back to what happened all those years ago.
After the incident, when he finally regained consciousness, the seven-year-old Cain understood.
What he felt toward Uta was not ordinary affection.
He truly liked her.
It was love—real, undeniable, and impossible to hide.
All the tiny things that had once confused him suddenly made sense when his seven-year-old self awakened.
Why had every page in his sketchbooks during that period been filled with Uta?
One drawing after another, carefully tucked between the pages of the books he read most often.
Why, despite always deciding to sit alone and quietly read, did every book instantly lose its appeal the moment Uta approached him?
Why had he worried so much whenever Uta and Luffy competed or roughhoused, always insisting on stepping forward to act as referee?
In the end, he had merely been afraid that Luffy's reckless behavior would hurt her.
He only wanted to quietly keep her safe.
Cain had been revolving around Uta for a long time without ever realizing it.
He had simply been too foolish back then to think of his feelings that way.
It was only after Uta left, when his seven-year-old self confronted Shanks and lost consciousness after awakening Conqueror's Haki, that he finally understood what those feelings truly were.
As for the exact moment he had fallen for her, even Cain could not say.
Love often began without anyone noticing.
Once Cain sorted through those feelings, he looked up at Shanks, who was still gripping his collar, and suddenly remembered their reunion in Elegia.
"No wonder!"
"When you saw Uta and me together back then, you trusted me with her so easily!"
"And when I used Conqueror's Haki, you barely reacted at all. I assumed you weren't surprised because you were one of the Four Emperors!"
"You already knew!"
Shanks watched realization spread across Cain's face.
He slowly released Cain's collar and nodded.
"Yeah… I did."
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